The difference between we, them, us

Study the two paragraphs below to judge whether they seem racist and divisive They are taken from a viral Twitter image claiming to be from a childrenrsquos textbook produced by the National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT Indiarsquos apex body for overseeing educational research curricula and contentEidulFitrRamzan is the holy month in which Muslims observe fast EidulFitr is celebrated after Ramzan On this day people embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak They offer namaaz in mosques and eat a sweet dish called seviyanGanesh ChaturthiOn Ganesha Chaturthi we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha People bring idols of Lord Ganesha to their houses and worship them Sweets called modak are made and offered to Lord GaneshaWhat do you think Racist or notI was told to note the way the words we and them had been used mdash we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha but they offer namaaz in mosques Anyone could see the textbook had been designed and written by Hindus for Hindu children and aimed to indoctrinate them early with the insidious seeds of antiMuslim sentimentThe conclusion was inescapable I was told Indian education was being subverted our children were being coached in bigotry towards Muslims we needed to stand up and fightAs it happened I had dealt with a similar claim a few days earlier this one about enslaved American blacks and their immortal hymn Amazing Grace ldquoThis songrdquo the narrator told me ldquocan only be played on the black keys of a piano Black people were not allowed to touch the white keysrdquoItrsquos a catchy tale one that could spark outrage at a cocktail party of leftwingers But a skeptic like me canrsquot leave lsquofactsrsquo alone Needless to say this balloon was thoroughly puncturedAmazing Grace was written as a poem first not a song Its author John Newton was not black but a Londonbased white slave trader who later became became a pastor and a staunch crusader against slavery The beloved poem was sung a great deal to the tune of existing songs eventually becoming popular in the United States where it was finally sung to the tune of New Britain a traditional songIn brief black people and pianos keys had nothing to do with it Indeed a momentrsquos thought will reveal the absurdity of a plantation slave being invited to learn the piano at his ownerrsquos house taking care not to touch the white keysThese days I follow two rules whenever I hear a story or claim on social mediaRule 1 Verify verify verifyRule 2 Verify againWith the HinduMuslim story my first approach was grammatical what did the words we and they refer to in the paragraphs In the EidulFitr description it seems to point to the word people in the previous sentence rather than any specific communityldquoPeople embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak They offer Namaaz in mosques rdquoSimilarly In the description of Ganesh Chathurthi the word we does not seem to refer to any group but rather sounds generic as in We believe the earth is round The second sentence mentions people again in a generic wayldquoOn Ganesha Chaturthi we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha People bring idols of rdquoWhat about other festivalsrsquo descriptions Do they have a wethey divide I tracked down the whole NCERT textbook online Here are three descriptionsldquoOn Gurupurab Sikhs remember one of their ten gurus They decorate the gurdwaras with flowers and lights rdquoldquoOn Diwali people decorate their houses with candles and divas They wear new clothes rdquoldquoOn Christmas people go to the church to pray and sing Christmas carols They also decorate rdquoBased on this would you really go out on a limb and proclaim that the government is brainwashing children from an early age by craftily deploying lsquotheyrsquo to describe Muslims and lsquowersquo for HindusDonrsquot get me wrong Irsquom not a fan of where education in India is going Itrsquos hard to argue that Indian education is not being Hinduised and aligned with the ruling theology in power The Higher Education Commission of India proposes one governmentappointed regulator to rule them all with power over faculties and teachers Meanwhile history is being rewritten and the new rules are well understoodFor example mentioning Mughal emperors with anything but scorn is deprecated Quoting Urdu poets is a nono The less said about the Gujarat riots the better Itrsquos a growing list but analysing it is not my purpose todayHowever when you become too eager for proof of what you already believe in you fall neatly into a trap It starts when you share unverified images and posts that confirm your pet theories and suspicions without sourcechecking them thoroughly first Your fears may be wellfounded but not everything yoursquore offered is proofYou know what happens if you see shadows everywhere you look right You drown in darknessHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper